FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the prior art general steps for plastic packaging soft pliable cheese, such as pasta filata cheeses that include mozzarella. A first step includes taking molded cheese balls and dropping the still pliable cheese balls from a molding machine into a cold water recirculating tank, 1. Next, the cold water recirculating tank is rolled to a cooler for the cheese balls to further chill, 2. Step 3 has the chilled still pliable cheese balls removed from the recirculation tank and loaded into pre-formed plastic bags that are placed into a heat sealing machine. Step 4 has the plastic bags containing the pliable cheese balls being processed through the heat sealing machine with plastic film sealed to the open top of the bags completing the packaging process.
The prior art process requires a chilled open top water tank which causes many problems. For example, the tank can cause cross-contamination of all the cheeses being stored therein from bacteria and germs caused by workers that put their hands in the water tanks. Contamination can also be caused by airborne germs, dirt, dust, and the like, that come into contact with the exposed water. Any contamination will potentially cross-contaminate not just one but all of the cheese balls in the tank.
Additionally, the prior art generally requires the water be chilled, which means that energy costs are incurred to chill the water so that the balls can be inserted inside. Still furthermore, each of the balls when removed from the water tank need to be dried off before being heat sealed in the plastic bags with the film cover, since the heat sealing will not adequately seal the bags if water is on the plastic bags and/or film covers. The labor to shake off or dry the water remnants on the bags is another expense to the process. Additionally, the extra handling by the worker to try to dry off the bags also adds to additional contamination of the cheese.
Finally, the bagged cheese does not have an aesthetic pleasing appearance. Packaging the pliable cheese in a thin filmed plastic bag allows for indentations, such as from fingers of handlers, to pass through the flexible bag to the cheese causing the cheese to be deformed resulting with indentations causing an ugly undesirable appearance on the shelves of markets.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.